Undercover Investigations

Behind closed doors, animals are suffering on factory farms. Mercy For Animals' brave undercover investigators risk everything to expose and end the abuse.

Exposing the Truth

On industrial farms and in slaughterhouses, farmed animals endure shocking abuse, out of sight and out of mind. But a team of MFA undercover investigators, wired with hidden cameras, is risking it all to pull back the curtains of these cruel and secretive operations, leading to landmark changes along the way.

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Past Investigations

Animal abuse runs rampant within the meat, dairy, and egg industries. With no federal laws regulating the treatment of animals on factory farms, cruelty has become the norm.

Pork

Seaboard Foods

Colorado, 2015

At
Seaboard Foods—a Walmart pork supplier—workers viciously beat and strike pigs
on their faces and backs with heavy cans and boards. Other pigs are shown
suffering from injuries and illness, packed into filthy, overcrowded pens.

Seaboard Foods

Colorado, 2015

At
Seaboard Foods—a Walmart pork supplier—workers viciously beat and strike pigs
on their faces and backs with heavy cans and boards. Other pigs are shown
suffering from injuries and illness, packed into filthy, overcrowded pens.

Western Hog Exchange

Alberta, 2014

Canada’s livestock transport regulations are the
worst in the Western world, and lag far behind both the European Union and the
United States. Farmed animals are often trucked thousands of miles, for days,
without any food, water, or rest, resulting in the deaths of millions of
animals each year.

Tyson Pork Group

Oklahoma, 2013

Hidden-camera footage shows sadistic animal
abuse at this Walmart pork supplier, including workers throwing a bowling ball
at a pig's head, kicking, throwing, hitting, and body slamming baby pigs, and
cramming pregnant pigs for life in gestation crates so small the animals can't even turn around.

Pipestone System

Minnesota, 2013

At this
Walmart pork supplier owned by the president of the National Pork Producers
Council, workers were exposed violently slamming conscious piglets headfirst
against the ground, ripping out their testicles without painkillers, and
confining pregnant pigs in filthy, fly-infested gestation crates.

Puratone

Manitoba, 2012

The extreme animal abuse documented inside this
Canadian hog factory farm sparked far-reaching media coverage and opened the
eyes of millions of people to the plights of thousands of pigs who are crammed into
filthy, metal gestation crates barely larger than their own bodies.

Christensen Farms

Minnesota, 2012

This groundbreaking investigation led Costco,
the third-largest grocery chain in America, and Kmart, the third-largest
discount store in the world, to commit to phasing gestation crates out of their
pork supply chains, leaving Walmart alone in its continued support of this
torturous confinement system.

Iowa Select

Iowa, 2011

Working undercover at Iowa’s largest pig factory
farm, an investigator exposed the horrific plights of mother pigs confined to barren
metal crates barely larger than their own bodies. The investigation also showed
workers throwing piglets across the room and comparing the act to a “roller
coaster ride.”

Country View

Pennsylvania, 2009

This investigation provides a jarring
glimpse into the nightmarish world of pork production, including the standard
practice of keeping thousands of pregnant pigs confined in gestation crates—two-foot-wide
metal stalls so small the animals can’t turn around or lie down comfortably.

Chicken

Tyson Foods

Tennessee, 2016

A brand-new Mercy For Animals investigation has shined a
spotlight on the world’s largest and most notorious animal-abusing company:
Tyson Foods. The video shows countless birds crammed into filthy, windowless
sheds and forced to live for weeks in their own waste and toxic ammonia fumes.

Tyson Foods

Tennessee, 2016

A brand-new Mercy For Animals investigation has shined a
spotlight on the world’s largest and most notorious animal-abusing company:
Tyson Foods. The video shows countless birds crammed into filthy, windowless
sheds and forced to live for weeks in their own waste and toxic ammonia fumes.

Perdue Farms

North Carolina, 2015

A Perdue factory farmer was charged
with felony animal cruelty after MFA caught him kicking and throwing chickens and violently stomping them
to death. The shocking investigation also exposed birds bred to grow
unnaturally fast suffering from painful leg deformities and dying from
heart attacks.

Tyson Foods

Mississippi, 2015

Tyson
Foods and several of its workers face 33 counts of criminal cruelty to animals
charges following the release of this hidden-camera footage exposing workers
punching, throwing, and tormenting chickens for fun and ripping off their heads
while they are still alive and conscious.

Foster Farms

California, 2015

Bob
Barker, former host of The Price Is Right,
narrates an undercover video exposing birds scalded alive at Foster Farms—certified
as “humane” by American Humane Association—and workers maliciously punching and
throwing chickens, and ripping out their feathers for fun.

Maple Lodge Farms

Ontario, 2015

At Maple Lodge Farms, countless birds freeze to death during transport. Those who survive are violently slammed into metal shackles before being painfully shocked with electricity and having their throats cut open while still conscious and able to feel pain.

Wayne Farms

North Carolina, 2015

Undercover footage from a poultry supplier to
Gordon Food Service—the largest private foodservice distributor in North
America—has exposed horrific cruelty to animals, including baby birds violently
slammed into metal shackles before being painfully shocked with electricity and
having their throats cut open.

Koch Foods

Mississippi and Tennessee, 2014

Sam
Simon, the terminally ill co-creator of The
Simpsons, took a bite out of Chick-fil-A over its cruel treatment of
chickens in this shocking exposé. Video shows workers violently slamming birds
into crates, shackling them upside down, and scalding them alive in hot water
tanks.

Horizon Hatchery

Ontario, 2014

At this Maple Leaf Foods chicken hatchery, baby
chicks are flung by their fragile wings and slammed into metal dividers, live
chicks are sent through a scalding washing machine, burned, and drowned, and
birds are overloaded and roughly crammed into macerators to be ground up alive.

Andrus Dairy

Wisconsin, 2014

At this dairy supplier to Great Lakes Cheese—one
of the largest cheese producers in the country—workers were caught on video viciously
punching, kicking, and beating cows, hacking off their tails with pruning
shears, and dragging them by their necks with ropes attached to tractors.

Winchester Dairy

New Mexico, 2014

Once
again, a Mercy For Animals investigator uncovered criminal cruelty to animals—this
time at a milk supplier to Leprino Foods, the world's largest maker of
mozzarella cheese. Leprino is a major cheese supplier to Pizza Hut, Domino's,
and Papa John's.

Chilliwack Cattle Sales

Vancouver, 2014

This
investigation at
the largest dairy in Canada led to a raid by law enforcement and
recommendations of criminal charges against eight workers for kicking,
punching, and beating cows in the face and body, and using chains and tractors
to lift sick or injured animals by their necks.

Wiese Brothers Farms

Wisconsin, 2013

This
stomach-turning investigation led Nestlé,
the world's largest food company, to commit to improving farmed animal welfare
across its entire global supply chain—covering more than 90 countries—in what
may be the most comprehensive and far-reaching animal welfare policy of its
kind.

Bettencourt Dairies

Idaho, 2012

Video taken at this Burger King cheese supplier
led to the arrest of the manager and workers who were caught viciously beating
and shocking cows, violently twisting their tails to inflict pain, and dragging
a downed cow by her neck using a chain attached to a tractor.

E6 Cattle Co.

Texas, 2011

Hidden-camera video footage of workers standing
on the necks of baby calves, burning out their horns without painkillers, and
bludgeoning
them to death with pickaxes caused the live-cattle stock price to drop, and
led to the arrest and conviction of the facility owner.

Conklin Dairy Farms

Ohio, 2010

This investigation
has been credited with pushing the Ohio Farm Bureau to implement the most
comprehensive set of animal welfare reforms ever enacted by a single state at
one time, including a ban on veal crates and gestation crates, and a moratorium
on new battery-cage egg facilities.

Willet Dairy

New York, 2009

Calves having their tails cut off and horns
burned out of their skulls without painkillers, workers hitting, kicking, and
shocking cows, and animals forced to live in filthy and overcrowded sheds—these
were just some of the abuses uncovered at New York’s largest dairy factory
farm.

Eggs

Gray Ridge Egg Farms

Ontario, 2016

A new MFA undercover investigation exposes the dark underbelly of the egg industry. Birds are crammed for nearly their entire lives in tiny cages unable to walk without stepping on other birds. Their feet ache from standing on metal wire. Dead birds are left to rot in cages alongside hens still laying eggs for human consumption.

Gray Ridge Egg Farms

Ontario, 2016

A new MFA undercover investigation exposes the dark underbelly of the egg industry. Birds are crammed for nearly their entire lives in tiny cages unable to walk without stepping on other birds. Their feet ache from standing on metal wire. Dead birds are left to rot in cages alongside hens still laying eggs for human consumption.

Eggland's Best

Washington, 2016

A new Mercy For Animals investigation uncovers sickening animal cruelty and neglect at an Eggland’s Best supplier. Dead birds rot in cages with hens still laying eggs destined for the country’s breakfast plates, and workers violently rip birds out of cages and throw them into trash cans to be cruelly gassed to death.

Shady Brae Farms

Pennsylvania, 2016

Disturbing undercover footage of shocking animal abuse at a
United Egg Producers-certified egg factory farm shows thousands of birds packed
so tightly into filthy wire cages they can hardly move and dead
hens rotting in cages with live birds still laying eggs for human consumption.

Sparboe Farms

Iowa, Minnesota, Colorado, 2011

This investigation exposed the secret ingredient in McDonald’s Egg McMuffins: horrific
animal abuse. After garnering international media attention, including
on Good Morning America and 20/20, Target and Sam’s Club terminated their contracts with Sparboe Farms.

Hy-Line Hatchery

Iowa, 2009

At the world’s largest hatchery for egg-laying chickens,
day-old baby birds are thrown, mutilated without painkillers, and violently
killed. This investigation, which sparked international outcry, revealed the
standard egg industry practice of throwing unwanted male chicks into a macerator
to be ground up alive.

Quality Egg of New England

Maine, 2009

This investigation prompted a raid by state
police and led the owner of the facility to plead guilty to 10 counts of
cruelty to animals, agree to pay more than $130,000 in fines and restitution, and
hand over authority to the state of Maine to conduct unannounced inspections for
five years.

Gemperle Enterprises

California, 2008

Covert footage recorded at one of the nation’s
largest egg producers uncovered hens left to suffer from untreated injuries and
infections and workers roughly cramming birds into cages, tearing birds out of
cages by their fragile wings, kicking, stomping, and throwing them, and hurling
them into “kill carts.”

Norco Ranch

California, 2008

Just weeks before California voted on
Proposition 2 to give egg-laying hens enough room to walk, stand, and stretch
their limbs, MFA released this startling footage from inside the state’s
largest egg producer. Prop 2 passed with overwhelming support, making
California the first state to ban battery cages.

Ohio Fresh Eggs

Ohio, 2004

At Ohio’s largest egg factory farm, millions of
hens are crammed for life into barren battery cages so small each bird has less floor space
than the size of a sheet of notebook paper. From the time
they hatch until they are violently killed, these hens endure lives of misery and deprivation.

Weaver Brothers Egg Farm

Ohio, 2002

Video footage recorded at this United Egg
Producers “Animal Care Certified” facility reveals hens coated in feces and
packed in tiny cages, birds suffering from untreated infections, corpses left
to rot on cage floors, birds trapped in cage wire, and a live hen left to die
in a trash bin.

Turkey

Lilydale

British Columbia, 2016

Shocking hidden-camera footage obtained by Mercy For Animals reveals horrific cruelty to animals, including turkeys violently slammed into metal shackles before being painfully shocked with electricity and having their throats cut open while still conscious and able to feel pain.

Lilydale

British Columbia, 2016

Shocking hidden-camera footage obtained by Mercy For Animals reveals horrific cruelty to animals, including turkeys violently slammed into metal shackles before being painfully shocked with electricity and having their throats cut open while still conscious and able to feel pain.

Butterball

North Carolina, 2014

Hidden-camera video at this Butterball turkey
hatchery shows birds having their sensitive toes and beaks cut and burned off
without any painkillers, workers callously throwing and dropping these fragile
animals, and sick or injured birds being thrown into a pit to be ground up
alive.

Hybrid Turkeys

Ontario, 2014

Video footage at the world’s largest primary turkey
breeder shows workers kicking and throwing turkeys, crushing their spines, and
violently beating them with shovels and metal rods. Turkeys with open,
pus-filled wounds, rotting eyes, and festering infections were left to suffer
and die.

Butterball

North Carolina, 2012

Less than a year after MFA’s first Butterball investigation
led to criminal animal cruelty convictions of Butterball workers for kicking,
beating, and throwing animals, new video footage from multiple turkey factory
farms in North Carolina shows that animal abuse continues to run rampant at
Butterball.

Butterball

North Carolina, 2011

Video
footage of Butterball workers violently kicking and stomping on birds, dragging
them by their wings and necks, and slamming them into transport crates resulted in the arrest and conviction of
several Butterball workers, including the first-ever felony conviction in U.S.
history for cruelty to factory-farmed birds.

House of Raeford Farms

North Carolina, 2007

An MFA investigator secretly filmed workers
throwing, punching, kicking, and ripping the heads off of live birds. The
investigation also revealed conscious and thrashing turkeys having their
throats cut open—spotlighting the disturbing result of exempting birds from the
federal Humane Methods of Slaughter Act.

Veal

Délimax Veal

Quebec, 2014

Following a gut-wrenching investigation at this
Délimax-affiliated veal factory farm in Canada’s largest veal-producing
province, Quebec’s veal producers federation and Canada’s top grocery chains,
including Metro, Loblaws, and Sobeys, committed to ending the sale of veal from
crated calves by 2018.

Délimax Veal

Quebec, 2014

Following a gut-wrenching investigation at this
Délimax-affiliated veal factory farm in Canada’s largest veal-producing
province, Quebec’s veal producers federation and Canada’s top grocery chains,
including Metro, Loblaws, and Sobeys, committed to ending the sale of veal from
crated calves by 2018.

Buckeye Veal Farm

Ohio, 2010

Following this investigation, Costco, the third-largest grocery chain in America, adopted a policy against
purchasing veal from producers who use the crate-and-chain production method,
and Bob Barker, host of The
Price Is Right, urged consumers nationwide to boycott veal and dairy.

Other

Mexican Municipal Slaughter

Mexico, 2016

MFA’s undercover investigator speaks out against the shocking animal abuse she uncovered at Mexico’s government-owned slaughterhouses, including fully conscious animals violently hooked in the mouth, strung upside down, and stabbed in the throat and chest while screaming out in pain.

Mexican Municipal Slaughter

Mexico, 2016

MFA’s undercover investigator speaks out against the shocking animal abuse she uncovered at Mexico’s government-owned slaughterhouses, including fully conscious animals violently hooked in the mouth, strung upside down, and stabbed in the throat and chest while screaming out in pain.

Mexican Municipal Slaughter

Mexico, 2016

Graphic video footage inside Mexico’s government-owned slaughterhouses exposes animals painfully shocked in the eyes, hoisted upside down by chains, and bellowing in distress while choking on their own blood and vomit—all while still conscious and able to feel pain.

Reichardt Duck Farm

California, 2014

At Reichardt Duck Farm, one of the largest duck
factory farms in the country, workers burn the bills of baby birds with
searing metal and leave ducks painfully trapped in cage wire or manure pits
to slowly suffer and die from lack of food and water.

Livestock Markets

Mississippi and Tennessee, 2014

Charges of a total of 49 counts of criminal
animal cruelty were filed against 10 workers at two livestock auctions in
Mississippi after an MFA investigator documented sheep, goats, pigs, and other
animals being kicked, shocked, beaten, dragged by their ears and tails, and
deprived of food and water.

Hudson Valley Foie Gras

New York, 2013

Foie gras, "fatty liver," is produced
by shoving pipes down the throats of ducks and force-feeding them until their
livers swell up to 10 times the normal size. This investigation exposes this
violent and often fatal practice at an Amazon.com foie gras supplier.

Ontario Livestock Sales

California, 2012

After
this investigation exposed an ongoing pattern of extreme cruelty and neglect
at one of the oldest and largest livestock auctions in Southern California,
including sick or injured animals left to suffer and slowly die, the owner and
several workers were convicted of criminal cruelty to animals.

Illegal Slaughter Operation

California, 2011

This hidden-camera footage led to the arrest and
conviction of Roberto Celedon for criminal acts related to his illegal
slaughter operation in Los Angeles County. During a raid of the facility, animal
control officers seized dozens of sick and injured animals who are now
rehabilitated at a sanctuary.

Catfish Corner

Texas, 2010

Workers cutting, slicing, skinning, suffocating,
and dismembering live and fully conscious catfish are just some of the
sickening images caught on video at this Texas fish slaughter facility. MFA used
this investigation to push for new legislation to prohibit “skinning and
dismembering of all live, conscious animals,” including fish.